Red Dead Redemption 2

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Red Dead Redemption 2 with the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 59.6 FPS average, which drops to 42.1 FPS at 1440p and further to 27.4 FPS at 4K. This represents a 29% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and an additional 35% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where the rendering load on the RTX 3060 Ti increases dramatically.

The pattern becomes more telling when examining the Low settings row. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 91.4 FPS, which drops to 68.8 FPS at 1440p and 48.4 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 25% and 30% respectively, which are slightly smaller than the High settings drops. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU has more headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU is still the primary constraint at 4K. The fact that even at Low settings 4K cannot reach 60 FPS indicates the RTX 3060 Ti's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for this title at that resolution, regardless of graphical complexity.

Interesting is the Ultra settings trajectory: 39.5 FPS at 1080p, 29.4 FPS at 1440p, and 24.1 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 26%, but from 1440p to 4K is only 18%. This diminishing scaling at Ultra suggests that at 4K Ultra, the system is hitting a hard performance floor, likely due to VRAM capacity limits. The 8 GB frame buffer becomes saturated, causing the GPU to spend cycles managing memory rather than rendering frames. This is a classic symptom of VRAM pressure, where the game's Ultra settings at 4K demand more than 8 GB, and the resulting performance collapse is more about memory management than raw compute.

The data strongly indicates the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component in this configuration. The i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, shows no evidence of bottlenecking—the scaling from 1080p to 4K is smooth and monotonic, which would not be the case if the CPU were the constraint. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect 1080p and 1440p performance to be closer together, as the GPU would have headroom that the CPU cannot utilize. Instead, the consistent 25-35% drops across resolutions point squarely at the GPU's rendering capacity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p High settings?

A: The measured average is 59.6 FPS, which is just shy of the 60 FPS threshold often considered the baseline for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the RTX 3060 Ti maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: No. At 1440p High settings, the average drops to 42.1 FPS. Only at 1440p Low does it reach 68.8 FPS, indicating that High settings at this resolution exceed the GPU's comfortable range.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra?

A: The average FPS is 24.1, which is below the 30 FPS console-style target and far from playable for most users. Even at 4K Low, the average is 48.4 FPS, suggesting that 4K is only viable at the lowest settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1080p is the sweet spot. At High settings it achieves 59.6 FPS, and at Medium it reaches 68.1 FPS, providing a good balance between visual quality and frame rate.

Q: How does the i3-12100F compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462). It is also 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K (13280).

Q: Is the GPU's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: Based on the measured results, the 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but at 4K Ultra the performance drops to 24.1 FPS, which is likely due to VRAM saturation.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It features 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The GPU's base clock is 1410 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and it has 38 RT cores and 152 tensor cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is the most critical factor for Red Dead Redemption 2's performance at higher resolutions. The game is known for its large textures and open-world streaming, and the measured data shows a distinct pattern consistent with VRAM pressure at 4K. At 4K High, the average is 27.4 FPS, but dropping to Low only raises it to 48.4 FPS—a significant improvement but still not 60 FPS. The gap between Medium (31.8 FPS) and High (27.4 FPS) at 4K is only 4.4 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is not just compute-bound but also memory-bound, as the VRAM fills up and forces texture thrashing.

The GPU's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is respectable for the 3060 Ti class, but Red Dead Redemption 2's open world demands high memory throughput. The pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the fill rate requirements exceed what the GPU can sustain at high settings. This is why 1080p Medium (68.1 FPS) is far more fluid than 4K Medium (31.8 FPS), despite the relatively modest resolution jump in terms of raw pixel count.

The RTX 3060 Ti's benchmark profile shows a Passmark G3D score of 20349, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6700M and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600, though those differences are negligible in real-world terms. The GPU's 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the theoretical peak, but the measured FPS in this game indicates that the practical performance is heavily influenced by memory bandwidth and capacity.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of playable settings for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 91.4 FPS, which is well above any threshold for smooth gameplay, but the visual quality would be noticeably reduced. The Medium preset at 68.1 FPS offers a substantial improvement in visual fidelity while maintaining a fluid frame rate that exceeds the 60 FPS mark. The High preset at 59.6 FPS is marginally below 60, but the visual upgrade from Medium to High is typically worth the slight frame rate sacrifice in a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which emphasizes atmosphere and detail.

At 1440p, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 68.8 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 52.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sections. High at 42.1 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 29.4 FPS is not recommended. For most users, 1440p Low or Medium would be the best compromise, depending on whether visual quality or frame rate takes priority.

At 4K, only the Low preset (48.4 FPS) approaches playability, and even that falls short of 60 FPS. Medium (31.8 FPS) and High (27.4 FPS) are below the 30 FPS console-style standard, and Ultra (24.1 FPS) is effectively unplayable. The data suggests that 4K should be avoided entirely for this combo unless the user is willing to accept significant compromises in settings.

The optimal experience, based on the measured rows, is 1080p Medium or High. The Medium preset provides a 68.1 FPS average, giving the user headroom for occasional dips, while High at 59.6 FPS is close enough to 60 that most users would not notice the difference. For users with a 1440p monitor, the Low preset at 68.8 FPS is the safest choice, with Medium at 52.5 FPS as an option for those who prioritize visuals over frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 91.4 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 68.1 FPS, High reaches 59.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 23.3 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 8.5 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 20.1 FPS. This non-linear scaling indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant computational load that the RTX 3060 Ti struggles to handle, even at the lowest resolution.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are 68.8 FPS for Low, 52.5 FPS for Medium, 42.1 FPS for High, and 29.4 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 16.3 FPS, from Medium to High is 10.4 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 12.7 FPS. The scaling here is more linear than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the consistent bottleneck across all settings. The 1440p results are approximately 25% lower than the corresponding 1080p results for each setting, which aligns with the increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 48.4 FPS for Low, 31.8 FPS for Medium, 27.4 FPS for High, and 24.1 FPS for Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 16.6 FPS, which is the largest single-setting drop in the dataset. The subsequent drops are smaller: 4.4 FPS from Medium to High and 3.3 FPS from High to Ultra. This compression at the top end indicates that the GPU is hitting a hard ceiling, likely due to VRAM limitations, where increasing settings has diminishing returns because the system is already struggling to manage memory.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a thermal design power of 58 W. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and has a PCIe Gen 5 interface with 16 lanes.

The CPU's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 893 in 3DMark, a multi-thread score of 4051 in the 16-thread test, and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11912. Its Passmark single-thread score is 3444, and its multi-thread score is 14015. The CPU's percentile ranking is 72nd among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13516. This places it in a competitive position against more expensive processors, as indicated by its nearest rivals.

For Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU, as the measured FPS scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound workload. The game is known for its heavy draw calls and NPC simulation, but the 4-core/8-thread configuration of the i3-12100F is sufficient to feed the RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p and 1440p. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 91.4 FPS, which is close to the CPU's practical limit for this game, suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck until frame rates approach the 90-100 FPS range.

The i3-12100F's single-thread performance is particularly strong, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2224. This is important for Red Dead Redemption 2, which relies heavily on a single main thread for game logic. The CPU's boost clock of 4.30 GHz provides the necessary responsiveness, and the 12 MB L3 cache helps with the game's streaming data.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1270 out of 1687 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested systems. This rank is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths—the CPU is in the 72nd percentile and the GPU is in the 69th percentile—but the game's specific demands at higher resolutions drag the overall combo ranking down.

The rank suggests that while this combo is capable at 1080p and even 1440p at lower settings, it falls behind many other combinations when considering performance across all resolutions and settings. The 4K results, in particular, are poor, with the best 4K setting (Low) only achieving 48.4 FPS. This is a significant weakness that likely contributes to the combo's mid-tier ranking.

Compared to other combos with similar individual component rankings, the i3-12100F + RTX 3060 Ti performs as expected. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, has an average score that is 0.1% higher, but that processor is a workstation-class chip with far more cores, so the i3-12100F's competitive standing in benchmarks is notable. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, is 0.2% ahead, but that is a mobile GPU, so the RTX 3060 Ti's desktop performance is actually superior in real-world scenarios.

The combo's ranking of 1270 out of 1687 means that 417 combos perform worse, and 1269 perform better. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution, which is consistent with the measured FPS data showing that 4K Ultra performance (24.1 FPS) is below the 30 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for playability. The takeaway is that this combo is a solid 1080p performer, a capable 1440p option at moderate settings, and a poor 4K choice, which is a reasonable expectation for the hardware tier.